Total impact fund Snowball is now available to professional investors who believe they should not have to choose between investing for their financial future and the future of society and the planet.Snowball, which has a four-year track record, is one of the few impact investment vehicles available globally that operates across all asset classes, geographies and in both public and private markets, across the UN SDGs, providing a balanced and diversified portfolio.
Initially the fund restricted its investors to its founding partners – including C Hoare Bank, Friends Provident Foundation and Skagen Conscious Capital – in order to prove its impact investment approach. Having proven its approach, Snowball is now opening up investment to professional investors. Snowball expects to grow quickly towards its target of GBP150 million from GBP15 million currently.
Over its first four years, Snowball has been pioneering from an impact perspective but cautiously managed financially, displaying sound risk/return characteristics when compared with a representative sample of 500 portfolios in the ARC charities and private clients database. Snowball targets returns of 3-4 per cent pa above inflation net of all fees, over the long-term. It charges a 1 per cent management fee per annum and no carried interest.
The fund is managed by Peter Baxter and Abigail Rotheroe. Baxter has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. Previously, Peter served as Chief Executive of Old Mutual Asset Managers and has worked for Schroders and Hill Samuel in a variety of investment roles. He is also a non-executive director of Civitas Social Housing plc and BlackRock Greater European Investment Trust.
Rotheroe has 15 years investment management experience, previously Director at Threadneedle Investment. Prior to Snowball she has 5 years impact-investing and non-profit consulting. She is also Trustee of the Young Foundation and Chair of Young Academy Investment Committee.
Alexander Hoare, founding investor, says: “All investments have a social or environmental impact, be it positive or negative. Snowball is not just an investment fund: it aims to contribute to behaviour change in the way financial markets operate to show it is possible to invest money positively. Our goal at Golden Bottle Trust is to own investments that contribute to solutions to social and environmental problems, whilst delivering attractive returns that allow us to further our impact.”
Daniela Barone-Soares, CEO of Snowball, says: “Investment without consideration of its impact on people and our planet is not investment, it is extraction. We exist to change the way the investment industry thinks and acts. We want all investors – from fund managers to individuals – to consider that their impact on people and the planet is as important as the financial profit they seek. Opening up the fund to professional investors is a key milestone towards making investing for impact available to everyone, and we want to keep reducing the barriers to entry which have historically been high.”
